The Massacre at Chios

The Massacre at Chios (1824) by Eugène Delacroix. Its palette is led by pigeon grey (#999ea0, 32%) and charcoal (#1e1b1d, 18%), with accents of dark reddish brown and amber brown. Overall the canvas is mid-toned, muted and balanced between warm and cool.

Color note

Delacroix studied how colors act on each other side by side, using complementary contrasts and colored shadows. His ideas about color shaped the Impressionists and Van Gogh.

Palette

#999ea0 MG 208 pigeon grey 31.9% of canvas
#1e1b1d MG 222 charcoal 17.8% of canvas
#52433a MG 155 dark reddish brown 17.6% of canvas
#6c7d93 MG 096 muted azure blue 14.6% of canvas
#826e5d MG 166 amber brown 11.7% of canvas
#c1c1c9 MG 212 pale grey 6.4% of canvas

Color families

Gray 43%, Brown 28%, Black 15%, Blue 13%, Red 1%

Measurements

Lightness: 0.53
Contrast: 0.55
Vividness: 0.023
Warmth: -0.00
Complexity: 193 cells
Hue range: 0.55
Focus: 0.00

Composition

55% of the visual weight is in the right half, 65% in the lower half. Symmetry 0.46 (how closely its shapes and edges mirror each other). 26% of the canvas is calm space. Half of the detail sits in 28% of the canvas. Measured from the image, not a rule the painter followed.

Details

Date: 1824
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 419.0 × 354.0 cm
Genre: Romanticism
Collection: Department of Paintings of the Louvre

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